As the impact of COVID-19 touches every corner of the globe, Air bp has been supporting the communities in which it operates through a number of initiatives alongside its customers and partners.

In France the fuel provider is supporting an initiative led by Aviation Sans Frontières, an aviation charity dedicated to providing humanitarian assistance. It is donating 60,000 litres of jet fuel for flights that will transport medical staff and equipment between French hospitals. These flights are carried out free of charge when requested by medical authorities. With more than 50 locations in France, Air bp is well positioned to support this critical service.

In the UK, Air bp is providing free jet fuel for use by the helicopters of a number of UK air ambulance services, supporting their life-saving work during the pandemic. All these services are charitable organisations that Air bp already supplies with jet fuel. Yorkshire Air Ambulance and Great Western Air Ambulance receive fuel directly from Air bp, whilst Wales Air Ambulance and Midlands Air Ambulance Charity are supplied by Air bp customer Babcock International.

In Australia it has worked with its procurement team to donate 35,000 N95 masks to the Royal Flying Doctor Service (RFDS) for its frontline staff. Air bp's donation builds on a long-standing relationship with the organisation that spans decades of providing bespoke fuelling services. Air bp has also been a national partner of the RFDS for the past three years.

Also in Australia, Air bp's rapid response has helped to keep a Qantas Sydney to London 'Kangaroo' route going after Singapore banned stopovers in late-March. Air bp provided an average of 266,000 litres of fuel per flight at Darwin airport, enabling aircraft to continue on the historic non-stop 16-hour flight.

In the US Air bp is donating three million gallons of jet fuel to customers FedEx and Alaska Airlines to support the timely delivery of medical supplies and other essential goods, such as food and mail, to areas of the U.S. at greatest risk from COVID-19. It will also offset the carbon emissions of all donated fuel deliveries through the BP Target Neutral programme.

In China, it has been providing support through its two joint ventures. To date, the South China Blue Sky joint venture has fuelled more than 800 epidemic relief and repatriation flights. Meanwhile at Shenzhen Airport, staff working with Shenzhen Chengyuan Aviation Oil Co. have been working round the clock to maintain aviation fuel supplies for chartered flights carrying medical and relief equipment to Wuhan and other cities in China.

CEO Jon Platt says: “We are pleased to be able to play our part in supporting our communities during these difficult times. Our commitment to safe, reliable fuelling operations remains unwavering and we're grateful for the hard work of our front-line Air bp operators who continue to enable us to meet the needs of our customers.”

Air bp's efforts form part of the wider BP response to COVID-19, which includes a two million USD donation to the WHO's COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund; supporting mental health charity Mind to help more people access mental health support across the UK; providing free fuel to UK emergency service vehicles; providing discounted fuel for first responders, doctors, nurses and hospital workers in the US and donating BP's supercomputing capability to help halt the spread of the virus.